


Don't have me spending it alone

by twoohugs



Series: Advent Calendar 2019 [10]
Category: X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Food Service, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Christmas, Drive-thru, First Meetings, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:09:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21844216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twoohugs/pseuds/twoohugs
Summary: There’s a new guy at the drive through. And he sounds kinda nice. Not that it changes anything, since Erik is still going to spend Christmas alone with his McDonalds take-out.
Relationships: Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier
Series: Advent Calendar 2019 [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1556131
Comments: 8
Kudos: 45





	1. Erik

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Make It to Christmas by Alessia Cara.

Erik tries not to make a habit out of eating fast food, but there isn’t that many choices when he gets off work at 2am with an empty stomach. So every Thursday (or Friday morning), after staying late to complete whatever that week’s deadline is, he stops by the Mcdonalds drive-thru on his way home.

By now, he is familiar with all the night shift employees. Moira is curt and efficient, and has memorized his order by the second time he orders from her; Hank always seems dubious about the food he’s selling and off-handedly asked Erik why he didn’t go get “real food” the last time he was here; Sean stutters more than he has any reason to (is Erik that intimidating with just his voice?), and once hesitantly asked if Erik knew high school algebra because “ _I can’t feel my brain anymore and this counts for half my grade shit_ ”, and Erik sat there in his car, guiding Sean through his homework through the microphone because the kid sounded close to tears. 

This time, though, Erik is greeted by a new voice. “Hello, welcome to McDonalds, what can I get for you?” An oddly chipper voice says, in a pleasant British accent. Erik raises an eyebrow. 

“Are you new?” He questions.

The voice sputters. “I’m sorry, I’ve just said the greetings!”

Realizing how he must have sounded like, Erik hurriedly explains, “No, I don’t mean that, just that I’ve been coming here every week for a while, and I don’t recognize your voice.”

There is a burst of static, like the other man sighing. “Ah, thank heavens. I was afraid I messed up from the first line. I am a substitute.”

“Oh, is someone sick? Wait, is Moira still gone?” Last week, Sean mentioned that Moira is preparing for an interview in another state and is taking a long leave.

“Oh, you know about that?” The British Guy (Erik is not creative with names, okay) says excitedly, “she’s got the job! The company asked her to start right away but McDonalds wanted her finish this month’s shifts, you see, so I’m covering for her until the end of her contract.”

“That’s great for her.” Erik says, then frowns. “Wait, so they let non-employees cover shifts?”

A pause.

“Please don’t tell anyone about this,” British Guy pleads, suddenly sounding harried. “I’ll be gone by the end of this month.”

“Of course I won’t say anything,” Erik snorts, “unless you’re absolutely rubbish at your job.”

“Oh!” British guy gasps, and rushes to asks, “I’m terribly sorry, I completely forgot. What could I get you?”

Erik himself honestly didn’t even remember he’s here to order food. Even though the chilly winter wind has been rushing into his car through the open window.

“Just a McNuggets combo, with coke.”

“Coke, isn’t it cold out there?”

“Are you here to judge my choice of beverage?” Erik asks, letting his amusement seep in his tone to avoid alarming British guy.

“Just for your health, dear. What about a hot chocolate?”

“Too sweet.”

“And cola isn’t?” Erik can hear his judgemental exasperation. He could argue his way out of basically everything (unless it’s again Emma, she unbeatable), but he’s in an amiable conversation with British Guy, not an argument, so he bites back the sharp rebuttal and just sighs.

“Sorry.” British guy says a bit timidly. “McNuggets combo with coke. Please proceed to the window for payment.”

“Thank you.” Erik says and left.

* * *

The next time he’s back, Erik is in an even crankier mood, and he thinks it’s justified..

“You got me craving hot chocolate the whole week.” He grumbles in response to British Guy’s cheerful greeting,. “I keep seeing, smelling, _hearing_ it everywhere.”

“Ah, it’s you, hello!” British guys says, just as cheerful as last time, “Maybe it’s just because hot chocolate is a good idea in this weather? It’s December, afterall.”

“So I’m having hot chocolate with my McNuggets tonight, happy?”

“Of course. Sounds like you need a little hot cocoa to cheer you up, my friend. Bad day?”

“Don’t even mention it.” Erik is aware he’s sounding much too grumpy to a stranger, but it’s the middle of the night, he’s been awake for 22 hours and has spent most of it dealing with either the incompetent idiots in his department, or the equally incompetent but even more irritating board members. He is entitled to a bit of grumpiness. 

“Oh, Erik.” British Guy sounds much too empathetic for a stranger. Erik’s pushes down a lump in his throat.

“Hold on.” He frowns, “I don’t think I’ve told you my name.” And he will never admit he notices this because he is rather tired of calling the man British Guy in his head, but reckons it’s fair because he hasn’t told _him_ his name either.

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry.” British Guy is sounding all flustered again, “You paid with your card last time, and I saw it on the receipt. I’m sorry, that is a terrible overstep, I apologize.”

“No, no it’s alright.” Erik is really starting to get tired of intimidating the wrong people. “I just.. Realized. That I don’t know your name.”

“Charles. Charles Xavier.” British Guy, Charles, answers.

“Charles.” Erik rolls the name around his tongue.

“So, Erik, it’s a McNugget set with hot chocolate, right?” Charles says, back to his cheerful self.

“Of course. Thank you, Charles.”

* * *

The next time he arrives at the drive-thru, Charles greets him before he can start talking.

“Hello, Erik, welcome back!”

“How did you know it’s me?” Erik frowns at the microphone, wondering if there’s a camera he missed. Oh dear, does that mean Charles had seen him grinning like a loon everytime they talked?

“We have a CCTV to see your license plate,” Charles explains, “also, we don’t have many customers at night, you see, and even fewer drive a car as expensive as yours. It’s easy to spot.”

“I see.” Erik squints out his windshield to spot the security camera, and on some unexplainable impulse, leans out his window to wave at it.

There’s a burst of static at the microphone. “Charles?”

“Oh! Um.” Erik reminds himself he doesn’t know Charles well enough to tell that it was a gasp, “It’s just… I have to say, you’re rather attractive, my friend.”

Erik almost choked on his spit. “Then I seriously doubt the quality of your security camera, Charles.” He manages to croak.

“Nonsense.” It sounds like Charles is smiling. “Now, Erik, I have to askーhow was your hot chocolate?”

“Sweet.” Erik says reflectively. Charles chuckles. “But you’re right, it warmed me up.”

“Of course it does. Who drinks soft drinks in the middle of December? A hot drink does wonders for your stomach, my friend. I bet you slept much better afterwards, too.”

“...Yeah.” Erik is not too proud to admit that.

“So I take it you’ll be having a McNuggets combo with hot chocolate tonight?”

“Of course.”

“Alright, you can pay at the window. Have a nice night, Erik. Or day. A nice night tonight and nice day tomorrow.”

Erik can’t help but laugh. “You have a nice night and day too, Charles.”

* * *

It’s Christmas Eve tonight, and Erik still has to work until almost 2am. Not that Erik himself cares muchーhe has the day off tomorrow to sleep to his heart’s extent, and it’s not like he has anything special to do for Christmas. When he said that to Emma, she looked at him with a sad, pitying gaze, and went on to make him a cup of coffee. Emma never makes anyone coffee. 

But, on the bright side, leaving work at 2am means he gets to pass by Mcdonalds on the way home. He refuses to think about why. He doesn’t consider his life sad or lonely, but confessing that the 3 minute conversation with the drive-thru guy is the highlight of his week is truly pathetic by anyone’s standards, 

“Hello, Charles.”

“Erik!” This alone justifies why this is so important to him, Erik thinks. Nobody is ever so happy to see him. “Merry Christmas Eve!”

“Merry Christmas Eve to you too, Charles.”

“So you don’t get to leave early, even on Christmas Eve?”

“No, I’m afraid. I get tomorrow off, though.”

“Oh, but wouldn’t that disappoint…” Charles sounds hesitant, “Your girlfriend? Wife?”

“No girlfriend. Or Wife.” Erik answers quickly. Maybe a bit too quickly, come to think about it. “Or boyfriend or husband, for that matter.”

“Oh.” Charles breathes.

“Yeah.” Erik says, frowning confusedly at the microphone.

There was a pause at the other side of the microphone. Then:

“So does that mean you’ll be spending Christmas Eve, and Christmas, alone, with Mcdonalds take-out?” Charles seems to be leading up to something, his tone far too even to be natural.

“Yes?” Intrigued and curious about what Charles is playing at, Erik doesn’t even stop to let himself be embarrassed at the confession.

“Well, you see, Erik.” Charles takes in a deep breath, “Do you want to come in and join us we have heating and food and a tree and cake for McCafe?” He basically raps out the whole thing at top speed, and it takes Erik a moment to process.

Taking Erik’s pause as an answer, Charles starts rambling again. “Of course, what was I thinking, it’s your Christmas. I’ll get you your order, I assume it’s the same one?”

Erik blinks. It’s not often he finds himself unable to even interrupt someone. “Charles,” he clears his throat. “Charles, I thought you’re working.”

“I… am?” He says it like a question. “But like I said, we don’t have many customers to begin with, and it seems people don’t like getting McDonalds on Christmas Eve. Not that there’s any problem with junk food on Christmas, of course!”

Despite his usual impatience with people rambling, Erik finds himself hopelessly fond. “As long as it doesn’t affect your work, I guess.”

Erik tells himself that the microphone not picking up noise doesn’t mean Charles is holding his breath.

“Does that mean you’re coming in?” Charles sounds rather breathless when he finally responds.

“Sure.”

“Great! Uh, you can go park at the back, I’ll be right there. Sean is manning the counter, but I’m pretty sure there’s no one else at the front at the moment.”

“Of course. See you in a moment, Charles.” Erik automatically starts driving to the parking area, and it’s when he’s killed the engine that he remembers he has never met Charles. He doesn’t even know what he looks like.

“What the hell are you doing, Lehnsherr?” He grunts, leaning on his steering wheel. But since the heating’s off it’s getting cold inside the car, so he steels himself and gets out. He has faced down Sebastian Shaw, the CFO, in a board meeting. He can manage meeting the faceless voice he’s been thinking of for half a month. 

Emma will be so proud of him. Maybe she’ll make him another coffee.


	2. Charles

“Oh, by the way, a customer asked about you last night.” Charles says, adjusting the phone between his cheek and his shoulder, “Erik Lehnsherr?”

“Oh, Erik!” Moira hums on the other end of the line, “Nice guy. Kind of blunt, but he spent half an hour teaching Sean algebra, so probably a big softie inside.”

Charles isn't sure what to make of that information. “Algebra?”

“Oh yes, he’s some kind of engineer, I think? In some big company?”

“I see.” She snickers. “What?”

“There’s no need to pretend in front of me, Charles.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“He’s exactly your style, isn’t he?” Moira continues, ignoring him, “Deep voice, intellectual, tough but kind.”

“I’ve never even met the guy!”

“Yet you cared enough to find his name.” Charles can _hear_ a judgmental raise of eyebrow, and blushes.

“I honestly cannot find a way to deny that.”

“So don’t. Like I said, Erik seems like a nice guy, if a bit stubborn and gruff. You know he has never once changed his order since he started coming here every Thursday?”

Charles groans. “And here I tried to convince him to switch to hot chocolate last night.”

Moira laughs. “Your life is a hallmark movie, Charles. English professor helps out friend and moonlights at McDonalds drive-thru, meets love of his life.”

“No one said anything about love! I talked to him once, and have no idea what he even looks like!”

“Oh, and wouldn’t you like to know.”

“ _Moira._ ”

“You know Christmas Eve is a Thursday, right? Maybe you’ll spend the night in a romantic date in the parking lot at the back.”

“Ew, who has a first date at McDonalds?”

* * *

He is having a first date at McDonalds.

“What was I thinking?” Charles wails into his phone.

“You got yourself a date, Charles. That’s a good thing.” Moira sounds less than impressed, having been woken in the middle of the night.

“But, oh my gosh, Moira…”

“Charle? Charles.’ Moira says firmly, “He said yes, didn’t he?”

“He did! That’s the problem!” Charles is practically tearing at his hair.

“No, that’s a good thing, Charles. He agreed to the date!”

“He doesn’t even know what I look like, or what I do!” Charles whines, “why _did_ he say yes, anyway?”

“Charles, Erik is a nice guy, stop panicking.” Moira says in a tone more fit for calming baby animals.

“But I don’t-” There is a knock outside.

“Charles?” Comes Sean’s voice, “Erik is asking for you outside.” Charles groans again. “Should I tell him to leave?”

“No! No.” Somehow the idea of Erik leaving is even more horrifying than Erik coming. “I’ll be right there.”

“Okay. I’ll man the drive-thru, just in case.”

When he picks his phone back up, it’s to the dial tone. He sighs, sends a text to Moira (“You abandon me at a moment of crisis??”), and pushes the door open. Right there, right in front of the deserted counter, stands Erik Lehnsherr.

Now, Charles has learnt from that brief glance from the CCTV that Erik is attractive, but that grainy image really does him no justice, especially since he was inside his car. He’s tall, fit and muscular but not overly bulky. Tall cheekbones and angular face, sharp greyish blue eyes that are-

That are looking straight at him. Charles feels a blush creeping up his neck.

“Charles?” And damn, there’s the voice, his faint accent (German, Charles guesses) even more pronounced without the static of the microphone.

“Erik.” He says, hoping he sounds calmer than he feels, and reaches out to shake his hand. “As you can see, we’re pretty much unoccupied.” He waves a hand at the empty shop. Only one table is not barren, and that’s the one where they’ve put all the food on.

“Not as empty as my house would be,” Erik shrugs as Charles comes out from behind the counter and leads him to the food.. “Are you sure this doesn’t affect your work?”

Charles smiles. “I’m sure. In fact, Moira’s contract ends tonight. So I could slack off all I want and there’s nothing they can do.”

“Oh.” Erik actually looks rather dejected at that. Before Charles can guess why, he continues, “So you’re not working here any longer?”

_Oh._

“Yes, actually I have a day jobーI, ah, I am a professor. I’m just helping Moira fulfill her contract, and I’m out of here.”

“I see. Do you work near here?”

“Yes, kind of? It’s just a few stops away. I live right next to it, too.”

“Good. So what do you think a proper date? I work just a few streets over, and I get off work at five everyday except on Thursdays.” Erik says, and when Charles look up (he’s so _tall_ ), his eyes are boring into his.

 _Yes. Yesyesyesyesyes-_ “I thought this is a proper date.” He says instead.

That got a smile out of Erik. It’s one that kind of matches him, sharp and perhaps slightly intimidating, but warm and direct. “A second date, then.”

“Well, didn’t you say you have tomorrow off? Last I checked, my schedule is clear.” Feeling brave, Charles suggests.

Erik’s grin is now tempered down to a warm smile. “What do you think about brunch? A proper one, not this,” he gestures around them with a grimace, “erm, _this_.”

Charles bursts out laughing. “It’s okay, Erik, I have no delusions about the food here.”

“Good. I’m thinking of changing up my habits. Having McNuggets every week can’t be too good for you.”

“Oh? Moira said you never even change your order. And you’re changing the eatery?”

“Well, that depends on what places they have near the university.” Erik says offhandedly.

Charles thinks he may just be in love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, just thought y'all ought to know, I've never been to a drive-thru. I've seen it on TV and youtube and stuff but never actually went to one, and I honestly have no idea it actually works. So, uh, if anything in the fic is terribly inaccurate, sorry.


End file.
